Arizona Coyotes defenseman Luke Schenn (2) and Los Angeles Kings left winger Kyle Clifford (13) reach for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Arizona Coyotes right winger Josh Archibald (45) reaches for the puck ahead of Los Angeles Kings defenseman Christian Folin (5) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Arizona Coyotes center Christian Dvorak (18) and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Christian Folin (5) and goalie Darcy Kuemper (35) scramble in front of the goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Arizona Coyotes left winger Brendan Perlini, right, and Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Luke Schenn (2) and Los Angeles Kings left winger Kyle Clifford (13) reach for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Los Angeles Kings center Alex Iafallo (19) clears the puck from the corner during the second period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Arizona Coyotes in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Los Angeles Kings right winger Dustin Brown celebrates a goal by Jake Muzzin against Arizona Coyotes goalie Scott Wedgewood during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

LOS ANGELES — Playoff contenders sometimes overlook teams that are going nowhere. But the up-and-down Kings might be the last team that should do that.

Coach John Stevens certainly doesn’t sell short the Arizona Coyotes, who came to town Saturday with a league-low 33 points.

“They’ve given teams a lot of trouble,” Stevens said Friday, as he spoke about preparing for the Coyotes. “Even when they lose, they seem like they have opportunities to win.”

Not on this night. The Kings scored once in the first period, three times in the second and twice in the third on their way to a 6-0 victory over the Coyotes before a sellout of 18,230 at Staples Center.

The Kings (28-19-5, 61 points) have won four of six since losing six consecutive games. Arizona (12-31-9) has lost three in a row.

The Kings also got another fine performance from backup goalie Darcy Kuemper, who notched his second consecutive shutout.

Alex Iafallo scored his fifth goal of the season in the first period and Trevor Lewis, Adrian Kempe and Jake Muzzin scored their 13th, 15th and sixth of the season, respectively, in the second. Anze Kopitar scored No. 20 and Dustin Brown his 16th in the third. Kuemper stopped 27 shots.

The Kings were coming off a 5-0 loss Thursday at Nashville. The last time they lost in such lopsided fashion was Jan. 23, when they fell 6-2 at Vancouver. The Kings responded with wins at Calgary and Dallas ahead of the loss at Nashville.

“Yeah, when things kind of go south for us, like last game, guys are eager to get back out there and right the ship,” Kuemper said. “We look at our mistakes and what was causing problems. And everyone’s buying into changing those.

“And I think that’s why we’ve had such good bounce-back games lately.”

Iafallo also assisted on Kopitar’s goal, giving him two points on the night. He, too, liked what he saw.

“Yeah, huge team win,” Iafallo said. “We talked about it last couple of days, just playing in all zones and making sure we’re coming up together and staying strong on the forecheck, working on getting sticks and getting pucks deep.”

Stevens was happy about a lot of things, particularly about the way his team rebounded from such a loss at Nashville.

“For sure,” he said. “We haven’t taken care of business at home this year coming off a bad loss on the road. I think it was really important that we bounce back today and played the game the right way.

“Arizona, they come at your hard, they’ve got a talented team and you have to be ready to play, so it certainly was the response we were hoping for from the group.”

Muzzin had three points for the Kings with Kempe, Brown and Kopitar also getting two apiece.

Tanner Pearson had no points, but was heavily involved in the action in different ways. He went down hard after a mid-ice collision with teammate Drew Doughty in the first period. Pearson got up, but went right back down again. At that point, another teammate, Kopitar, took hold of Pearson’s stick and dragged him off the ice. It appeared Pearson broke a skate.

Then, not long after Kopitar scored the Kings’ fifth goal, Pearson threw down with Arizona’s Max Domi.
The Coyotes appeared to have broken the shutout early in the third period when Niklas Hjalmarsson rifled one past Kuemper. But the Kings had the play reviewed because they thought Arizona was off-side. It was, and the goal was disallowed.

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